House number sign



June27, 1939. R MCC NNELL 2,163,695

HOUSE NUMBER SIGN Filed Oct. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheetxl I fifiarj GMGConn/ail June 27, 1939. R. G.- MCCO'NNELL HOUSE NUMBER SIGN Filed Oct.6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NM NM QM M N, nw ww ww I .Ziwaniarw Rob/(27 1fPatented June 27, 1939 HOUSE NUMBER SIGN Robert G. McConnell,Springfield, Ill., assignor of one-third to William D. McC'cnneli andonethird to Fred W. Neuner, both of Springfield,

Ill.

Application October 6, 1938, Serial No. 233,559 10 Claims. 01. 40-140This invention relates to display boards or signs, and more particularlyto a casing or signboard for displaying house numbers.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision'of a-newandimproved reflector sign for indicating house numbers, and adapted to belocated adjacent to the, curb in front of a house.

Anotheriobject of the invention is the provision of anew and improvedsign having reflector ugulflii-s arrangedin a novel manner so that thedriverbf a vehicle'may readily read a house number when driving ineither direction past the s1gn.

A'still .furtherobject of the invention is the lZz;.rprovlsion: ofa'new' and improved house number sign casing having novel means forsecuring the casing :in. operative position infront of a dwelling.oiiice, store, or other building.

A further object of the invention is the provision 'of anew and improvedsign board or re.'

fl'ector sign casing that is inexpensive to manu facture, easilyinstalled, efiicient in. operation, and one in which the numbers may bereadily changed when desired. Other and further objects and advantagesof the invention will appear from the following description; taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in. which Fig.1 is. aperspective view of a portion of a 393:501661? and private walk leading.thereto, and

showing the invention in position relatively thereto;

Fig. 2 is aperspective View of the device shown on an'enlarged scale,andwith parts broken away;

3 is a section on the line 3-'-3 of Fig. i; Fig. is a longitudinalsection of the house number sign device;

Fig. 5 is a section onthe line 5--5-of Fig. 4;

and or Fig. dis a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

It is often difficultioranyone. to locate the house or street number'ofa house or residence, due to the fact that there is no uniformity in theposition or location of these numbers. At 45,some residences the numbersare on the door, some above or below the door, some on the steps or onthe curb in front of the house, and still others may be located on.trees in the yard in front of thehouse or on a column or gate post in 1front of. thehouse; Thistmakes it extremely difficult for any onedriving an automobile along the street to find the desired number, evenin the daytime, and becomes extremely difiicult, ii

not impossible in many instances, if it is at- V tempted at night.

The present invention seeks to remedy these difficulties by providing aresidence number sign that is adapted to be located adjacent to the curbin front'of the dwelling, and be so constructed that the numbers will beplainly visible to a driver or occupant of a car driving along thestreet past the sign, during the night time as well as duringthe day.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character it designates thereflecting house num.-. ber sign which is adapted to be mounted on apost i i, securedin the ground adjacent to. the junction of the streetl2 and the front walk .53 of a dwelling. The street 82 is provided withthe usual curb l4, and the sign i0 is arranged with its longitudinalaxis transversely to the curb It, as shown in Fig. 1.

The sign or sign device comprises a sectional frame ZlLhaving a bottomplate, lower member, lower section, or base IE, to which is adapted tobe detachably connected'an upper section or member having depending armsforming an inverted U-shaped frame member It, as by means of screws orbolts IT, or the like, extending through the ends of the plate l5 andtapped into the lower ends of the depending arms of the upper member. Inorder to prevent unauthorized removal of the U-fra-me it from the plateE5, the plate member is provided with recesses 8 for receiving the headsof the screws or bolts H, and the bolts are provided with Allenor-socket heads whereby a tool for engagingin the socket is required forremoving the bolts.

In order to properly position the frame member E6 on the plate 85 (Figs.4 and 5) the latter has at each end thereof an upwardly extending curvedflange 40, forming a vertically extending groove I or recess forreceiving a vertically extending bead or rib 353 on the depending armsof the frame member I 6.

v The plate I5 is provided with a central opening l5, for detachablyreceiving the upper end of the supporting post ll. Suitable means areprovided for rigidly attaching the plate to the standard. In the form ofconstruction selected to illustrate one embodiment of the invention, awedge-block 2! is employed for this purpose. At one side of the openingI9 the plate is provided with a wedging or inclined surface 22, and-witha depending portion 23, which is provided with an opening Mfor receivinga bolt or screw 25. The bolt is threaded into the block 2!, and whentightened pulls the wedge-block 2| downward for. clamping the post I lagainst the opposite walliof the opening IQ for locking the casing 2G tosaid post. The projection 23 is preferably, though not necessarily,provided with a depending flange 26, which extends about the head of thescrew so that access may be had to the head thereof only with a specialtool for engaging in an angular recess 2? in the head of the bolt orscrew 25. This arrangement will prevent unauthorized removal of theset-screw and the entire sign device from the post H.

The wedge-block 2| is provided on one end with an inclined surface 28,corresponding to the inclined surface 22 on. the plate l5, with which itis adapted to engage. The inner end of the clamping block 2i is providedwith a recess 29, which is adapted to be forced into clamping engagementwith the supporting post I 5. When it is desired to attach the signdevice to the post H the screw 25 is released to permit the release ofthe wedge-block 2i, and after the post is inserted in the opening l9 thescrew 25 is turned an inclined surface 23, corresponding to the inclinedsurface 22 and clamp the post H for locking the sign device in positionon the post.

Suitable means are provided for mounting reflecting insignia or signunits within the frame of the sign device. In the form of constructionshown, the bottom plate l and the inverted U- shaped frame member 16 areprovided with flanges 3!, 32 respectively, which extend in common planesat each side of the device and define openings 33 (Figs. 2 and 3)through which the reflecting sign units 34 may be seen. These flangesprevent the outward movement of the reflecting units.

The plate [5 is provided with a plurality of projections 35 at each sideedge thereof for engaging the rear face of the reflecting units 34 forholding the lower edge of same from moving inwardly. Likewise the upperhorizontal portion of the inverted U-shaped frame member i6 is providedwith a plurality of projections 36 (see Figs, 3 and 4), which areadapted to engage the upper edges of the reflecting units 34 for holdingthe units in position within the frame.

The projections 35, 36, are longer than the width of the flanges 3t, 33,so that by partially releasing the bolts I! and raising the frame membersufficiently to permit the upper portion of the flange 3! to clear theunits, but not far enough to clear the projections, the intermediateunits may be easily removed and the end units may then be removed byfirst sliding them laterally from behind the flange 33 extendingdownwardly across the end of the frame 26, after which it may beremoved.

In the construction illustrated four reflecting numerals are shown, butit is understood that by increasing or reducing the length of the frameany number of units may be employed. By the use of blank units in aframe any number may be represented within the capacity of the frame.For instance, if the capacity of the frame is four units, a number withtwo digits could be represented by using a blank unit at each side ofthe number units.

Each of the units 34 has a single character thereon, and each is of thereflecting type now on the market. These units as now constructed eachcomprises a glass plate 31, having its rear face silvered as at 37a tooutlinethe number or character to be reflected and the whole backsurface covered with paint or other opaque substance as at 31b. In orderthat the units may be changed to correspond with any particular housenumber, each unit is mounted separately in a metal frame 38, so that thesame may be removed from the casing or sign device In and be replaced byanother unit when desired. The front face of the glass is provided withinnumerable small hemispherical projections for diffusing the light, asis usual in such constructions. Since other commercial types may beused, and since the details of the reflecting units constitute no partof the present invention, it is not thought necessary to furtherillustrate or describe the same.

In order that the rays from an automobile headlight, or other vehicle inthe street, falling on the units 34, shall be reflected to the eyes ofthe driver or occupant of the vehicle, the units on each side are soarranged that the planes of these units converge toward the curb andalso converge upwardly. This is accomplished by making the front end ofthe frame 20, or the end adjacent to the curb, narrower than its rearend, and making the upper wall of the casing. 28 narrower than thelower. In other words, the frame for the sign device has its sidestapering both forwardly or toward the street (Fig. 5) and upwardly, asshown in Fig, 3. By inclining the reflecting units both upwardly andforwardly light falling on the units will be reflected upwardly andoutwardly toward the street, whereby the house numbers may be easilyseen by the driver of a car passing along the street.

When the reflecting units are all in place on the frame 2d, a hollowcasing, closed on all sides, including the top and bottom, is formed. Ifdesired, suitable openings 59 may be provided in the base plate l5 fordraining water that may collect in the casing.

It is thought from the foregoing, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, that the construction and operation of my devicewill be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that changes in size,shape, proportion and details of construction may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a house number sign, a casing in the form of a box-like member,means for supporting said casing adjacent to a highway and s1ightlyabove the plane of said highway, said casing having its longitudinalaxis normal to said highway and having two sides provided withreflecting surfaces outlining house identifying characters, thecharacter bearing sides converging upwardly and toward the streetwhereby rays from the headlights of an automobile on said highwayapproaching said sign from either direction will be reflected from saidsurfaces to the eyes of the driver of said car.

2. -In a sign, a casing comprising a boxlike structure having its sidesmade up of a plurality of rectangular reflecting units, each outlining asign character, said sides converging forwardly and upwardly, and meansfor supporting said casing above, but adjacent to, the ground, wherebysaid characters will be reflected by light from a vehicle to indicatethe house number of the premises.

frame at opposite sides thereof, each unit having a character thereon,the units at the sides being in planes that converge upwardly and towardsaid curb, and means for supporting said frame above, but adjacent to,the horizontal plane of said curb.

5. In a house number reflecting sign, a frame, a plurality of reflectingnumber-bearing units mounted on opposite sides of said frame and formingthe side walls thereof, a curb, and means for supporting said frameabove the level of but adjacent to said curb with the planes of saidunits arranged at acute angles to said curb in both horizontal andvertical planes.

6. A frame for supporting reflecting units for a house sign comprising abase member, an upper member having depending arms supported on saidbase member, means for detachably connecting said members together, saidmembers having flanges defining an opening, numeral bearing reflectingunits mounted in said opening and seated against said flanges, and meanson said members engaging the backs of said units for holding said unitsagainst said flanges.

'7, In a house number reflecting sign, a base member having a verticalopening therethrough for receiving a supporting post, said openinghaving an extension provided with an inclined wall, a clamping blockhaving an inclined surface engaging said wall, and means for moving saidblock along said wall for clamping said post.

8. In a house number reflecting sign, a base member having a verticalopening therethrough for receiving a supporting post, said openinghaving an extension provided with an inclined wall, a clamping blockhaving an inclined surface engaging said wall, a projection on said basemember having a vertical opening therein,

a bolt extending through said opening and thread-ed into said block formoving said block along said inclined wall, said bolt having a socketedhead, and a shield surrounding said head for preventing unauthorizedloosening of said bolt.

9. A frame for supporting reflecting units for a house sign comprising abase member, an upper member having depending arms supported on saidbase member, means for detachably connecting said members together, saidmembers having flanges defining an opening, numeral bearing reflectingunits mounted in said opening and seated against said flanges, boltsextending through said base member and threaded into said arms forholding said members together, and projections on said members engagingthe backs of said units for retaining the units against said flanges,said projections being longer than the widths of said flanges wherebyupon the loosening of said bolts said members may be separatedsufficiently for removing or replacing said units.

10. A house reflecting sign, comprising a structure having two sidesconverging upwardly and toward one end of said structure, means forsupporting said structure adjacent to a street and just above thehorizontal plane thereof, said sides converging toward said street andhaving transparent portions provided with reflecting surfaces onthe'back thereof outlining house identifying characters whereby raysfrom a headlight of an automobile on the street approaching said signfrom either direction will be reflected from said surfaces to the eyesof the driver of said automobile.

ROBT. G. MCCONNELL.

